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Two Montgomery County Council members requested Monday that state and county watchdogs investigate the county school system’s handling of reported allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation by former Farquhar Middle School principal Joel Beidleman.

Dawn Luedtke (D-District 7), whose district includes Farquhar, and Council President Evan Glass (D-At Large) requested in a letter that Montgomery County Public Schools “halt the work of Jackson Lewis,” a Baltimore-based law firm that was hired to investigate claims made by several Farquhar and school system employees.

“We believe your offices are best suited to investigate these widespread and extensive allegations because you are independent of MCPS,” they wrote in the letter addressed to the state inspector general for education and the county inspector general. The letter also was sent to Schools Superintendent Monifa B. McKnight and school board President Karla Silvestre.

Teachers, legal scholars question independence of firm probing MCPS

A story published earlier in August by The Washington Post documented at least <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/11/joel-beidleman-montgomery-county-principal/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2" target=_blank>18 complaints</a> of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation by Beidleman that the school system received over seven years — as well as dozens of other instances of other alleged misconduct. After the story was published, the school district <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/14/mcps-joel-beidleman-investigation-firm/" target=_blank>hired Jackson Lewis</a> to conduct an “independent, external investigation.” But teachers and legal scholars said<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/08/17/jackson-lewis-mcps-beidleman-investigation/" target=_blank> they are concerned</a> that the firm has been hired instead to shield the school system and its leaders from liability.

Those critics noted that the firm previously was hired to represent MCPS in a legal case challenging its <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/09/30/montgomery-schools-covid-vaccine-religious-exemption/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5" target=_blank>vaccine mandate for employees</a>; the case was dismissed. Jackson Lewis also represents other school systems defending themselves against lawsuits.

In an interview, Luedtke — whose children have been enrolled at Farquhar — said she felt compelled to make the request to ensure that the investigation was “truly handled independently.”

Neither the Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General nor the Maryland Office of the Inspector General for Education responded to a request for comment. Beidleman did not respond to a text message seeking comment. Spokespeople for MCPS did not respond to questions, but they said in an earlier statement that they would cooperate with any investigation by the county inspector general. Silvestre said Monday that she had not reviewed the letter and did not directly answer questions about the council members’ request.

At a news conference held to unveil an anti-absenteeism initiative Tuesday, Silvestre said Jackson Lewis is reporting directly to the county Board of Education — the formal name of the school board — not to the school district. Its “independent investigation” falls into two parts, she said. In the first, it will assess “potential failures by MCPS” and report by Sept. 8. Matters to be covered in the first part will include how an employee about whom there had been so many complaints could have received a promotion in June.

 In the second part of the investigation, which will take longer, the law firm is looking directly into allegations against Beidleman.

“We want to know who, what, when and why,” McKnight added. “Anyone who is implicated in wrongdoing will be held accountable.” McKnight said she is going to “pull every lever, use every tool” to overhaul the system if that is what recommendations indicate will be necessary.

Despite the letter, the county council and the county executive have little power to intervene in issues concerning the schools. School systems in Maryland generally have more direct supervision from the state. County Executive Marc Elrich (D) has said he would prefer that the state investigate because of its oversight powers.

County council members were informed about the letter and were given about three hours to decide whether they wanted to add their signatures, Luedtke said. Glass was the only council member who did.

“We should not be spending additional taxpayer money to an outside law firm to conduct these investigations when we have governing agencies capable and ready to do it,” said Glass, who signed the letter in his capacity as an individual council member rather than as council president.

County council member Will Jawando (D-At Large) said the Education and Culture Committee, which he chairs, intends to hold a hearing in September on the school system’s handling of the complaints; the hearing would coincide with the completion of the first part Jackson Lewis’s investigation.

Jawando said he supported the watchdog agencies conducting their own review but also said he did not think it would be helpful until the law firm’s investigation has been completed. Jawando, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/07/26/will-jawando-maryland-senate/" target=_blank>who is running for U.S. Senate</a>, received a donation of $3,900 from “Jackson Lewis P.C. Political Action Committee” according to <a href="https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00839449&contributor_name=jackson+lewis&two_year_transaction_period=2024&min_date=01%2F01%2F2023&max_date=12%2F31%2F2024" target=_blank>federal campaign contribution filings</a>, as first reported by the website <a href="https://montgomeryperspective.com/2023/08/21/jawando-takes-money-from-anti-union-law-firm/" target=_blank>Montgomery Perspective</a>. The PAC has contributed to the campaigns of other politicians, including Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Jawando said he was not aware of the contribution when he spoke to The Post last week about the education and culture committee’s plans and said his campaign would be giving the money back “to get rid of the distraction.”

Alexandra Robbins, a freelance journalist, is the author of several books about education, the latest of which is “<a href="https://amzn.to/43ZCcQJ" target=_blank>The Teachers: A Year Inside America’s Most Vulnerable, Important Profession</a>.” She has substitute-taught in Montgomery County in a different school cluster from the ones described in this story. Nicole Asbury covers Maryland schools for The Washington Post.

University of Kansas, BS in journalism

Nicole Asbury is a local reporter for The Washington Post covering education and K-12 schools in Maryland.

Nicole Asbury

Alexandra Robbins is the author of “The Teachers: A Year Inside America’s Most Vulnerable, Important Profession.”

Alexandra Robbins

washpost

County, state should investigate MCPS, Montgomery council members say

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The Washington Post

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